Young adult books from page to screen

By Ashley Strickland, CNN

Updated 10:24 AM ET, Fri November 22, 2013

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Fans of Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" may mourn the end of the film franchise with the release of the last film, "Mockingjay -- Part 2." Here are more young adult titles that went from the bookshelf to the box office.

Hide Caption

1 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

The hotly anticipated film version of John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars," starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, reached theaters in summer 2014 and opened at No. 1.

Hide Caption

2 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Alvin Schwartz's book series "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" is legendary for its ability to frighten the daylights out of its readers. Now, with a little help from screenwriter John August, Schwartz's work will come to life on the big screen.

Hide Caption

3 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Author Gayle Forman's novel "If I Stay" came to the big screen in August 2014, with Jamie Blackley as Adam and Chloe Moretz starring as Mia Hall.

Hide Caption

4 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

An adaptation of Veronica Roth's bestselling first novel in her "Divergent" trilogy landed in theaters in March 2014, starring Shailene Woodley, right, as protagonist Tris Prior and Zoe Kravitz as Christina. The sequel "Insurgent" arrived in 2015, and "Allegiant" will be released in 2016.

Hide Caption

5 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Orson Scott Card's novel "Ender's Game," which began as a short story in 1977, finally made the jump to the big screen in November 2013, starring Asa Butterfield as Ender and Hailee Steinfeld as Petra.

Hide Caption

6 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

After a lackluster August 2013 release for the adaptation of the first book in Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" series, production for the second film was initially put on hold. But one thing fans did seem to like about "City of Bones"? The casting, with Jemima West as Isabelle, Robert Sheehan as Simon, Lily Collins as heroine Clary, Kevin Zegers as Alec and Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace.

Hide Caption

7 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia's bestselling series opener "Beautiful Creatures," starring Alden Ehrenreich and Alice Englert, didn't fare well at the box office, but the books have sold millions of copies, and the fan base continues to grow. A spinoff series of books, "Dangerous Creatures," is also in the works, thanks to 4 million new readers after the movie's debut in February 2013.

Hide Caption

8 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Stephen Chbosky wrote "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and adapted it into a successful film in 2012 starring Ezra Miller, left, Emma Watson and Logan Lerman.

Hide Caption

9 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

All seven of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books made the leap from page to screen, beginning with the first one in 2001 and wrapping up in 2011. It's been a trend to split the last book in a series into two films, with the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" franchises following suit. The success of the "Harry Potter" films also led to adaptations of "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Inkheart" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles," none of which replicated the success of "Potter. From left are "Potter" stars Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe.

Hide Caption

10 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Stephenie Meyer signed on as producer for the last two films of her "Twilight" saga as well as the adaptation of her novel "The Host." "Twilight" was also the first franchise to spark Summit Entertainment's interest in adapting young adult novels for the screen. Another vampire adaptation, "Cirque de Freak: The Vampire's Assistant," didn't inspire the same viewership, although L.J. Smith's "The Vampire Diaries" has found success on the small screen. From left, "Twilight" stars Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Foy, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

Hide Caption

11 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

The first "Percy Jackson" adaptation, based on Rick Riordan's popular series, came out in 2010, and fans were struck by serious deviations from the original plot and even the hair color change for a main character, Annabeth. "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" continued the franchise in summer 2013 and gave Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario, here with Logan Lerman as Percy) back her original blonde hair.

Hide Caption

12 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

The first of Christopher Paolini's successful Inheritance Cycle series, "Eragon" was adapted in 2006 during the fantasy boom, inspired by "Harry Potter." But the film, starring Ed Speleers, didn't reach the expectations of fans who adored the books. None of the other books has been adapted.

Hide Caption

13 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

C.S. Lewis' famous series hit the big screen with "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" in 2005. The franchise continued with "Prince Caspian" in 2008 and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (pictured) in 2010. "The Silver Chair" has been announced, but there is no release date. Fans had mixed reactions to the films. The first movie grossed $291 million, while the third only netted $104 million. From left, Will Poulter, Skandar Keynes, Georgie Henley and Ben Barnes.

Hide Caption

14 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Also part of the "Narnia" and "Harry Potter" fantasy boom, the first of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series hit the screen in 2007. It was full of star power, with Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as young Lyra, as well as plenty of CGI. But the series has yet to continue on the big screen.

Hide Caption

15 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

This retelling of "Beauty and the Beast" starring Vanessa Hudgens was connected to Alex Flinn's book by name and little else, according to fans. But it allowed actor Alex Pettyfer to continue his string of young adult film projects in 2011. Pettyfer previously starred in "Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker."

Hide Caption

16 of 17

Photos:Young adult at the movies

Pittacus Lore's (the pseudonym of James Frey and Jobie Hughes) science fiction series seemed like the perfect material for a film in 2011. But the sequel was shelved. However, Alex Pettyfer strikes again.

Hide Caption

17 of 17

Story highlights

Young adult best-sellers have become some of the highest grossing films of all time

Adaptations work best when they preserve the spirit, not every page, of a book

A successful franchise can lead to others being marketed same way; that's wrong, authors say

"Hunger Games" heroine Katniss Everdeen returns to the big screen this weekend with the second installment in the young adult fantasy trilogy, "Catching Fire."

With loyal, built-in fan bases for these best-selling books, the hype comes as no surprise. After all, the idea behind movie adaptations, besides franchise-building, is to give readers a new opportunity to walk through their favorite world.

"It's a chance to fall in love with the characters all over again when readers can see the books come to life," Erin Setelius of the YA Book Addicts blog said. "It's like a little reward for loving the books."

Film adaptations are a balancing act of fan expectations and filmmaker priorities -- especially when fans have grown up with a book series or character. If a movie deviates too far from the book's plot, changes characters or fudges dialogue, readers can quickly lose faith in it.

So what is the recipe for a well-made YA book-to-film adaptation? Authors and filmmakers agree it doesn't include putting every single page on the screen.

"When I saw the first 'Twilight' film, I came out of that with butterflies in my stomach," Forman said. "I felt exactly like I did reading the book, and that's what you want from the film. With so many adaptations happening right now, it speaks to that emotional resonance of YA books and how that translates to the screen."

One of the biggest challenges of adapting a book for the screen is deciding what stays, what goes and how those pages will translate in a film while maintaining the essence and emotional ties of the story, authors say.

"I think 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' is one of the best adaptations of YA literature we've ever had," said author and filmmaker Bryan Young. "Director Alfonso Cuarón was the best at taking the spirit of what the book was and boiling it down. He created a new look and feel for the Harry Potter movies that set the tone going forward in a way that no one else really did."

Young said a skillful culling of the book's themes also helped the first "Hunger Games" story translate easily to film. Director Gary Ross made a movie that newcomers could appreciate, while discarding parts of the book that didn't make sense on the screen.

Forman has signed on to be executive producer of the adaptation of her popular novel "If I Stay." She hopes to be a conduit between her readers and the film's producers, making sure that key scenes, players and touchstones are included.

Casting is an essential part of the equation, too. Fans want to believe in the actors portraying their favorite characters, from appearance to personality.

"As a reader, you have ideas of characters in your head," Forman said. "But for my story, everyone has been so perfectly cast. It's like someone reached into my head and pulled out Mia in the form of Chloe Moretz. If I'm feeling this way, I think the readers will feel that way too."

Brian Selznick didn't have a formal role in the adaptation of his children's book, "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," but he believes "Hugo" was still a faithful, loving production by director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter John Logan. Scorsese and the entire film crew read and had copies of the book on set at all times, using Selznick's drawings as storyboards.

Martin Scorsese and his team captured all the right aesthetics for "Hugo."

"If you have a director who loves the original material and a writer who is respectful, you can find that middle ground," Selznick said. "They can maintain the core of what makes it work as a book, yet have something only the cinema can bring to it."

Before the rise of Internet culture, films were made in a relative vacuum, and potential fans didn't know much about a movie until the trailer released. Now, movie headlines are created before the script is even finished, and fans aren't afraid to share their opinions on the script, casting and plot.

"You have all of these voices who think they are absolutely right," Young said. "Then the filmmaker has to do their job and take all of this into account. It's not fair to expect them to work as an artist under those conditions."

Marketing has also taken on a comparative aspect. Selling a dystopian tale such as "Divergent" as the next "Hunger Games" creates the wrong expectations going into the movie, Setelius said.

This could be a contributing factor to the lackluster box office numbers for other YA adaptations outside of the "Harry Potter," "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" franchises. But the tide could turn with hype over upcoming films like "Divergent" and long-awaited adaptations such as Lois Lowry's "The Giver."

"I do think that when a YA book goes to the movies, it's sort of polarizing," said YA writer Margaret Stohl. "You're going to endure a storm one way or another: are you like 'Twilight,' or 'Hunger Games'? But in truth, those movies also did a lot for YA books being adapted."

Stohl is co-author with Kami Garcia of the "Beautiful Creatures" series. The first book became a film in March 2013, and Stohl's YA novel "Icons" has also been optioned by Alcon.

The "Beautiful Creatures" movie, based on a 600-page Southern Gothic YA novel, drew mixed reviews from fans. But the movie helped to bring in 4 million new readers this year, Stohl said.

Stephen Chbosky adapted his beloved novel, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," to the screen in 2012. That was 13 years after the book debuted.

Fans fell in love all over again with the coming-of-age tale of shy teenager Charlie, while new viewers empathized quickly. Chbosky's challenge was to faithfully preserve the boy's story without reciting the book triumph for triumph, humiliation for humiliation.

"I think that the process of turning 'Perks' into a movie was the most gratifying and challenging work I've ever done professionally," he said. "I had to do a real adaptation -- I couldn't just film the book. It was a real balancing act to simultaneously be emotionally very inside the piece and at the same time always be outside of it to keep it on the train tracks."

He wrote a version of the screenplay including almost every detail of the book. It gave Chbosky a chance to self-edit, cutting back on small details or scenes that didn't focus on central characters.

The famous Fort Pitt tunnel scene in "Perks" worked even better on screen.

Chbosky wanted to maintain the audience of his readers, both from 1999 and now, bringing teens and parents together around issues that kids of all generations face.

It's something that YA film adaptations continue to do, and Chbosky is hopeful that Forman's upcoming film will have a similar impact: "I do believe that these books and these movies can change lives."